2016 Notre Dame Football Preview

2016 Notre Dame Football Preview

Blue & Gold Illustrated: 2012 Notre Dame Football Preview

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110 ✦ BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED 2016 FOOTBALL PREVIEW BY LOU SOMOGYI O ne would have never thought it while watching Notre Dame's 44‑28 Fiesta Bowl loss to Ohio State in which the Buckeyes' special teams thoroughly dominated, but the 2015 Fighting Irish kicking game collectively had its best season in head coach Brian Kelly's first six years. Granted, the bar was relatively low during Kelly's previous five campaigns. That's part of why he noted last August that he had never placed more emphasis in the preseason on special teams during his 25 years as a head coach than he did last season. The extra work reaped dividends in at least two hard‑fought victo‑ ries: A fake field goal that produced a touchdown in the 34‑27 win at Virginia and a blocked punt for a touchdown that helped spearhead an exciting conquest of USC. Complementing those game‑changing plays were the performances of the top trio who made their debuts last season. • Kicker Justin Yoon earned Freshman All‑America notice by con‑ verting 15 of 17 field goals, notably each of his last 12 (highlighted by one from 52 yards versus Navy). Over the final nine games, Yoon missed neither a field goal nor an extra point (50 of 52 overall). • Fellow freshman CJ Sanders became the first Notre Dame player since Vontez Duff in 2002 to return both a kickoff and a punt for a score in the same season. No one else for the Irish had returned a punt for a score since 2009 or a kickoff since 2011. • After redshirting as a 2014 freshman, punter Tyler Newsome's 44.5‑yard average helped Notre Dame join Idaho as the only two schools last season to have their kicker and punter rank among the top 15 in field goal percentage and punting average. The hiring of special teams analyst Marty Biagi to the support staff this winter has Kelly aspiring to achieve even more on special teams in 2016. A punter and placekicker at Marshall from 2004‑07, Biagi was the special teams coordinator at Southern University in 2014 when it ranked No. 1 in all of college football for special teams scoring with seven touchdowns. "We've added some things that I think are going to be very help‑ ful," Kelly said of the special teams this June. "There are going to be a couple of things unique to special teams that have afforded us the opportunity to maybe show some strengths that we haven't shown in our punt game with our punter. "I think we're going to continue to grow there. Adding Marty there, he has great expertise." To remain a College Football Play‑ off contender, Notre Dame will need to build on the success it achieved on spe‑ cial teams for the most part — and erase the special teams clinic Urban Meyer's Buckeyes put on them in the Fiesta Bowl. The Buckeyes had Sanders walled in by the Irish 15‑yard line on all five of his kickoff returns, with the possessions starting at the 17‑, 13‑, 13‑, 12‑ and 10‑yard lines. Meanwhile, OSU averaged 18.25 yards on four punt returns and 29.3 yards on three kickoff returns against Notre Dame to gain a substantial advantage all game in field position. There also were a few setbacks or changes on special teams during the spring. One was that more inclement weather than usual in northern Indi‑ ana led to virtually every practice being held indoors. Consequently, controlled climate situations don't tell the full story as they would fielding kickoffs and punts outdoors. Second, top return man Sanders suffered a hip flexor injury that re‑ quired surgery in April, with a recovery time requiring about four months. On a bright note, Kelly reported in early June that Sanders was about "three weeks ahead of schedule" with his convales‑ cence. If needed, other potential options in the return game could be sophomore running backs Josh Adams and Dexter Williams on kickoffs. On punts, sure‑ handed freshman wide receiver Kevin Stepherson is vying to challenge Sand‑ ers, along with senior wideout Torii Hunter Jr. — whose baseball background as an outfielder makes him effective at tracking punts — and sophomore walk‑on Chris Finke, who averaged 18.9 yards on his 24 punt returns as a high school senior at Archbishop Alter (same school as quarterback Malik Zaire and cornerback Nick Coleman) in Kettering, Ohio. SPECIAL TEAMS DOING THE LEGWORK The third phase attempts to build on 2015 upgrade Kicker Justin Yoon was tabbed as a Freshman All-American after converting 50 of 52 extra points and 15 of 17 field goals in 2015. PHOTO BY BILL PANZICA "We've added some things that I think are going to be very helpful. There are going to be a couple of things unique to special teams that have afforded us the opportunity to maybe show some strengths that we haven't shown in our punt game with our punter. I think we're going to continue to grow there." HEAD COACH BRIAN KELLY

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